State Briefs: TBI arrests Lincoln County man for stealing from employer

Wednesday

Jul 17, 2013 at 7:54 AM

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation arrested a Lincoln County man for allegedly stealing from his employer.

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation arrested a Lincoln County man for allegedly stealing from his employer.

Robert Vann Dupree, 47, of Elora, was arrested Monday on two warrants charging him with theft and burglary. While working for the South Central Human Resources Agency in Fayetteville, Dupree allegedly used his employer’s fuel card for personal use, according to a TBI press release. The charges were made on SCHRA accounts between September 2012 and February 2012.

In addition, Dupree allegedly visited the SCHRA facility after hours on Jan. 23, obtained a set of master keys, entered several offices and took household items donated by area businesses intended to be given to needy families, according to the release.

Dupree also served as a member of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department’s reserve deputy program. He was booked into the Lincoln County Jail on $1,330 bond.

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Tracy out raises DesJarlais

NASHVILLE — Recent Federal Election Commission filings show state Sen. Jim Tracy has outraised incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais and state Rep. Joe Carr in his bid for the 4th District seat.

The Tennessean reported the Shelbyville Republican raised $296,393 this spring, more than eight times DesJarlais’ $35,155. Carr, a Lascassas Republican, finished second with $100,225.

DesJarlais, a two-term Republican physician from South Pittsburgh, has had a tough time fundraising, mainly because of revelations about his personal life.

He won re-election last year despite revelations he had affairs with patients and once urged one of them to seek an abortion.

In May, he was fined $500 by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners for two counts of unprofessional misconduct. He didn’t contest the findings.

DesJarlais spent $34,220 in the second quarter, leaving him with less than $1,000 more than when he began the period, according to the FEC. He finished the spring with just over $88,000 in the bank.

Tracy spent $44,193, about $10,000 more than DesJarlais. However, he saw his cash on hand rise to $656,201 less than 13 months before the Republican primary.

Carr, who did not officially begin his campaign until early March, spent $16,858 in the second quarter, pushing his cash on hand up to $275,000.

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Amid audit,

district principal suspended

MEMPHIS — The Shelby County Schools have suspended the principal of Melrose High School amid a financial investigation.

Principal Leviticus Pointer was placed on leave Monday, according to The Commercial Appeal.

An audit found 11 cases of possible fraud or theft. The school district audit found evidence that former Melrose librarian Jonathan Phipps pocketed money for expenses he didn’t incur and was paid to coach a non-existent wrestling team.

Phipps’ attorney, Michael Floyd, said his client was transferred in late winter from Melrose to Geeter Middle School.

Pointer said the school tried to spark interest in a wrestling team, but there was little found, so it was never started.

The audit results have been sent to the white collar crime unit at the state comptroller’s office.

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Administration spells out policy to committee

NASHVILLE — The administration of Gov. Bill Haslam has revealed the scope of its outsourcing of state office space.

The Commercial Appeal reported Haslam’s chief of staff, Mark Cates, acknowledged to the state legislature’s Fiscal Review Committee that the administration could have been more transparent in the plan.

“In hindsight, this is a huge deal,” Cate said. “It’s a big change and we should have treated it more from a communications standpoint like we did on, say, civil service reform. So lesson learned, and we agree we could do a better job of keeping you informed.

“This was uncharted territory. As you’re plowing new ground of this magnitude and this level of importance, sometimes it’s not easy. Part of this was a continuous learning as we go.”

Cates told committee members on Tuesday that the change makes Tennessee “the first state in the country as far as we can tell that has done integrated, comprehensive outsourcing” of its real estate.